Hazardous area safety switches protect one of the most important aspects of any electrical installation – the ability to control the distribution of power and to isolate or turn equipment off in the event of an emergency.

In many respects, hazardous area safety switches are able to prevent incidents from occurring at all, or limit the severity of an incident when it does occur.

Safety switches range from emergency stop switches and safety limit switches, to interlock switches and those that control mechanical movements such as the opening and closing of doors and hatches.

According to figures from Wise Guy Reports, Europe was the largest regional market for safety switches as a whole in 2014, thanks to its diverse array of vertical markets and industries. North America ranked second by market size, while emerging economies including Brazil, China and India are all contributing towards global growth too. Based on the years since then, and looking ahead to 2020, the report forecasts 3.8% compound annual growth in safety switches worldwide in 2015-2020.

“Given the unavoidable hazardous areas in core industrial sectors, the need for adopting safe methods or using safe equipment has become a top priority for enterprises operating in these sectors,” it states.